Nepalese Man Named the Shortest Man in the World

A new "shortest man in the world" was crowned today, when Khagendra Thapa Magar from Pokhara, Nepal—124 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu—had his eighteenth birthday.

Magar is 26.4 inches and weighs 13 pounds, about the size of a toddler, making him shorter than Edward Nino Hernandez, 24, of Colombia, who measures 27.4 inches tall.

Discovered by a businessman who was in his area, Magar first applied for the title four years ago, but was told he had to be 18 years old to qualify. Since then, he has been hired by fairs that paid to exhibit him across Nepal.

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"I am very happy with the recognition," his father, Rup Bahadur Thapa Magar, told CNN. "For the last few days, Khagendra has been saying that he is a big man now."

For someone born in a poor nation with a disability that will make it hard for him to do traditional work, this must be a great honor for Magar. Although being 'exhibited' at a fair makes me cringe a bit, because it seems exploitative, it has given him the option to travel, work and earn a living, not to mention international accolades.